The Kurukulla Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies is located in Medford, MA. As you approach the door of the center there is a mandala drawn with chalk at the entrance. This is an abstract representation of the universe and mandalas are often used to establish a sacred space. As I entered the door, I was asked to take my shoes off and one of the senior staff met me and I was able to ask her some questions prior to the service. The service itself was 'Medicine Buddha Puja', which entailed asking the seven Medicine Buddhas to help with physical ailments. Each Medicine Buddha has a different role with different specialties. As it was explained by Geshe Tenley (Geshe is a title meaning teacher), there are some doctors who specialize in the physiology of the heart, some specialize in lungs, and etc..., just like the different Medicine Buddhas have different roles.
The ritual itself involved chanting, in this particular service, in English, and the content of this particular chant can be found here. The goal of this chanting was to praise and ask for help from the Medicine Buddhas. Puja means offering, so many people brought food, flowers, or candles as offerings as a practice of generosity and that the items may be blessed through the ritual.
The chanting was in unison and comprised the entire service aside for questions at the end. Hearing the chanting brought to my mind the idea of collective effervescence proposed by an early sociologist of religion, Emile Durkheim. Where people lose their individual identity during a group ritual or event and a feeling of oneness with the group emerges. I firmly believe that this experience of losing oneself in a group is a human desire, perhaps even a human need; but it is responsible for both good and evil. In this case it was an authentic expression of what I have come to recognize as a quite noble religion.
I was welcomed by everyone. They were quite concerned that I would not be able to sit on a mat for an hour or more of chanting. I did not chant myself, but listened as the sing song cadence fell gently upon my ears. I felt transported into another time and place, beautiful Buddha statues adorned the room and made me realize just how difficult it must be to transport a culture from another country to a new location.
In particular, relic traditions like Tibetan Buddhism seem hard to build in a non-native country. Take coordinating the construction of a stupa as an example. A stupa is a representation of the Buddha's mind. To build a stupa many relics are placed inside of it at various stages in its construction. Merely seeing a stupa will liberate any sentient being at least in the short term. You may see people often circumambulating, that is walking in a circle around, a stupa, which will help one attain enlightenment and a better rebirth. To learn more about this particular stupa, and stupas in general check out http://www.kurukulla.org/stupa-project-kurukulla-tibetan-buddhist.php.
Before the chanting I was able to ask questions of Wendy Cook, a former director and current teacher at the Center. I found the answers to the questions to be thoughtful and helpful to understand Tibetan Buddhism. What follows is not word for word, but a reconstruction of the questions and answers based on my notes and memory. Also an important disclaimer, each interview I take to be an individual's understanding of a particular faith not representative of the tradition at large or even of the organization to which the interviewee belongs.
Q: What is religion?
A: I find the answer to this question in the history of the word, developed in part by Robert Thurman. In this etymology of the word 'religion' means to bind, whether it be through ritual, morality, belief, or etc...
Q: What is Tibetan Buddhism?
A: Religion and science of the mind. There is philosophy as well, including cosmology and metaphysics.
Q; Is Tibetan Buddhism a religion?
A: Tibetan Buddhism definitely has a religious component, but there is also a long tradition of philosophy and debate.
Q: How are deities viewed in Tibetan Buddhism? Some people think of Buddhism as an atheistic religion or tradition.
A: There is no quick answer to this, but many people view Buddhism as atheistic because there is no Creator God. In general the deities represent qualities to aspire to, how one represents the different deities will be different.
Q: Tell me about your stupa.
A: Tibetan Buddhism is a relic tradition. Various holy objects are placed within the stupa at various stages in its construction, including scriptures, incense, perfume, Buddha statues, and deity statues. An important point is that a stupa is not just an empty monument, but filled with sacred objects.
Q: What is the purpose of Medince Buddha Puja? How does it work? (The ritual I witnessed at this service)
A: During the chanting we will be petitioning the seven Medicine Buddhas who respond to help with illness and injury, or in the case of near death they also help ensure a better rebirth.
Q: I am confused about how there can be no self and reincarnation, can you help me understand how these concepts work?
A: Keep in mind that in Tibetan Buddhism its not that there is no self, but no independent self. We are dependent on many things for our existence. I can't answer this question fully in such a small amount of time as this requires a lot of study. However, I and anyone, are always a result of karma, or all previous activities. Where I am today is a direct result of actions that were performed by me and other things that I depend on.
Q: So is it similar to building a Lego structure where actions slowly construct a being that nevertheless is dependent on so many other factors?
I do think that is a good analogy, but again this is a very complicated question.
(I really thought this last exchange about karma and reincarnation was an excellent way to understand how reincarnation was viewed in a tradition that does not believe in a stable unchanging self. Though I caution readers not to take this metaphor as anything more than a stepping stone to understanding)
After the service I also asked Geshe Tenley some more questions about Tibetan Buddhism, in retrospect some of my questions were ill formed, but he handled them all with care and at one point said my favorite line of the night, "Until you get the question of the object you are ignorant of the object." (Again the question and answers are based on my notes and memory not word for word, English was his second language, but this is the best way I can interpret the answers in American English)
Q: Do you agree with the Dalai Lama that Westerners shouldn't convert without a lot of study in Tibetan Buddhism?
A: Yes, quick converstion is not good, it can be very harmful. Westerners are always changing their religion, first this one, then that one.
(At this point one of the followers stated that it would be difficult for me to find anything that anyone there would disagree with the Dalai Lama about)
Q: Have you ever had a Christian or someone from any other faith try to convert you?
A: I have lived in a monastery most of my life and now I teach here. I have sometimes eaten a cookie (host, communion wafer) at Christian churches
(After some discussion the topic of the Shugden protesters came up)
Q: What's going on with the Shugden protesters anyways?
A: They don't know peace.
At the end of the night I was given a bag full of snacks and talked at length about my overall project to one of the followers. He seemed to think that people seemed to talk about the differences between religion more often than the similarities.
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My overall impression of the night was very positive. If you want to learn about or even EVENTUALLY convert to Tibetan Buddhism, then this would be a great place to learn more. As a visitor you can receive several free books which I have not yet been able to even read, let alone review. The only thing that concerned me even slightly was the comment that it would be hard to find any disagreement with the Dalai Lama. It should be noted that this was one of the followers, not an official teacher or director of the center. However, frankly there does not seem to be a lot that I know of in the Dalai Lama's corpus of teaching that one can reasonably disagree with if you already follow the tenets of Tibetan Buddhism. The final word of 'A Religion Critic' is that this is a great authentic place to learn about Tibetan Buddhism, so please visit to learn more about humanity!
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